Enza Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Enza Capital is a pan-African, multi-stage venture firm that backs founders and teams using technology to solve large, meaningful problems across Africa. The stated thesis is to back companies that are "organising the offline online", digitizing key industries, and changing how Africans live, earn, work and do business. The firm looks for verticals where the problem is large, can be solved commercially, and where technology is core. It argues the market is misunderstood and overlooked, and points to population growth, rising internet penetration, falling data costs, improving infrastructure and governance, and an emerging venture ecosystem as tailwinds.
Sectors
Enza names fintech, logistics, health, human capital and climate-smart sectors as its core. The portfolio also includes AI and automation software (Lua AI, Widebot, Aethex AI, Orca), cybersecurity (Buguard), proptech (Yakeey), mobility and vehicle commerce (Autochek, Tugende), insurance (Turaco), and industrial analytics (Guidewheel). Enza also co-invested in Satlyt, a space-tech startup building virtual AI data centers in orbit, in its $8M seed announced 2026-10-01.
Stage Focus
Enza invests from pre-seed through Series B on its first check. For pre-seed it typically backs repeat founders with complete founding teams. The firm intends to keep investing over a company's lifecycle.
Check Size
First checks range from $250K to $5M, with a sweet spot of $500K to $2M. Enza Growth Capital, an evergreen vehicle, can invest up to $20M per company over longer holding periods, reserved for existing portfolio companies on high-growth trajectories.
Lead Tendency
The firm says it prefers to lead or co-lead where it fits the company, and takes a smaller position in rounds led by others. It takes board and observer seats when it leads or co-leads, though not always at the earliest stage. It is explicitly collaborative and seeks co-investors; most deals are alongside other funds.
Recent Activity
Enza closed Fund II in September 2023, bringing total capital across two funds to about $58M (TechCrunch, 2023-09-28), and launched a founder partner program in which founders become co-owners in the firm. From Fund I it made at least one follow-on into 12 of its 23 portfolio companies. On 2026-10-01 Satlyt announced an $8M seed led by non sibi ventures with participation from Enza Capital, TLCOM, Antler, Slauson & Co. and Launch Africa Ventures.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists 42 companies, three marked exited: Quro Medical, Orda and YeboFresh. Notable names include Peach Payments, SeamlessHR, Sendy, Djamo, Autochek, Hub2, Tugende, Guidewheel and Lua AI.
Team
- Mike Mompi: Founder and Managing Partner. Previously at Global Innovation Fund and ClearlySo; cofounder of the Accra Angel Network.
- John Lazar: Founder and General Partner. Former CEO and Chairman of Metaswitch Networks (sold to Microsoft in 2020); chairs the Raspberry Pi Foundation and What3Words. Works 2-3 days per week.
- David Cohen: Founder and Limited Partner. Family-office investor, cofounder of Noonday Asset Management, former Farallon partner; anchor LP in Fund II and Investment Committee member.
- Nzwisisa Chidembo: CTO in Residence. Founder and CEO of Riskbloq.
Decision Process
An Investment Committee that includes Cohen and Lazar makes decisions. Average time from first call to cash for a lead investment is about 2.5 months; the fastest was two weeks. The firm weighs team most heavily early on, then problem, market size, validation, technology and transaction terms.
Founder Preferences
Complete founding teams relevant to the market, repeat founders at pre-seed, and founders willing to work through mutual fit. The firm advises building relationships before raising.
Geographic Focus
Africa, Sub-Saharan and pan-African, including East, West, North and Southern Africa (portfolio spans Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt and others).